Microsoft Rolled Out AI PCs That Can’t Play Top Games—and There’s No Quick Fix

Under the hood of the new laptops is a hardware change. Instead of the Intel chips that have powered Microsoft Windows PCs for nearly four decades, the initial Copilot+ PCs to hit the market use Qualcomm QCOM -6.88%decrease; red down pointing triangle chips, which in turn rely on designs from U.K.-based Arm. 

Most PC games, including popular multiplayer games such as “League of Legends” and “Fortnite,” are made to work with Intel’s x86, a chip architecture that has been the standard for many personal computers for decades.

To make some of these programs function on the Qualcomm-Arm system, they must be run through a layer of software that translates Intel-speak into Arm-speak. Chip experts say the approach isn’t perfect and can result in bugs, glitches or games simply not working.

The problem is widespread. About 1,300 PC games have been independently tested to see if they work on Microsoft’s new Arm-powered PCs and only about half ran smoothly, said James McWhirter, an analyst with research firm Omdia. He cited an independent website recommended by Microsoft to check compatibility. Many other less-popular games haven’t been tested.

Gamers are power users of PCs, accounting for about 15% of laptop users and tens of billions of dollars in business each year, said Henry Chang, an analyst with Taiwan-based research firm Digitimes. 

Microsoft confirmed that some games may not play on Copilot+ PCs, including certain titles with demanding graphics requirements. It said it was “committed to making a quality gaming experience” on the PCs but for now, “players who want a high-performance native gaming experience may choose an alternate PC optimized for gaming.”

Qualcomm had a similar comment, saying the type of chip powering the new AI PCs “is not currently considered a gaming platform” but that it was working with partners to improve the situation. 

The companies said many games already work with Copilot+ PCs without requiring a translation layer. Speaking at an industry event in June, Qualcomm Chief Executive Cristiano Amon mentioned titles such as “Baldur’s Gate 3,” a fantasy role-playing game. However, Amon spent less than two minutes speaking about videogames near the end of his hourlong speech.

One frequent cause of problems is the software built into some games to prevent cheating—an essential feature added to titles such as “Fortnite” and “League of Legends.” Even if the game itself can be translated to run on Arm, the anti-cheating software may be incompatible.

Qualcomm said it was working with makers of anti-cheating software to optimize their code for better compatibility, and Epic Games, the publisher of “Fortnite,” said it was discussing the anti-cheating software issue with Qualcomm.

Analysts said the problem can’t be fixed with a quick software patch because of the fundamental structure of the current Arm-Qualcomm chips.

Videogame players who want to enjoy the AI features of Microsoft’s latest PCs are likely to get satisfaction eventually, industry analysts say, but it will take some time. 

Intel aims to introduce its own chips for PCs with Copilot+ AI functions in September, and computer makers expect widespread sales of those Intel-powered models next year. At that point, gamers could purchase one of the Intel devices and avoid the Qualcomm-Arm issue.

Larry Xie, a 39-year-old gamer in Shanghai, said he would wait for Intel. He said he doubted serious gamers would consider PCs powered by Arm because they mainly want a powerful graphics-processing unit, “an area where Arm has no advantage at all.” 

Jesse Zmick, a 34-year-old cybersecurity professional in Charlottesville, Va., said he wouldn’t buy an Arm-powered device because he was concerned he wouldn’t be able to play some of his favorite games such as “Dead by Daylight,” a survival-horror title, and “Rising Storm 2,” a shooter game.

Zmick said friends have gotten kicked out of online matches when they tried to use additional software to play on Arm computers.

In addition to games, some users have reported compatibility problems with other types of software on the new Windows PCs, and Microsoft offers a compatibility tester. 

The performance and compatibility issues with Arm-based chips aren’t new.

In 2012, Microsoft released Windows RT, a version of the operating system designed for Arm-based processors. It never caught on because it could run only software specifically built for Arm, leaving behind decades of existing Windows software. Microsoft gave up after several years.

Apple’s Mac series of computers is built on Arm chip designs and has also long struggled to win over game developers, though Macs enjoy a loyal following among non-gamers.

Games are just one part of the bigger struggle to control the insides of Windows PCs, with the upstart Qualcomm-Arm team squaring off against more experienced Intel. Digitimes’s Chang said he expected the coming Intel chips for Windows AI PCs to take the lion’s share of the global market in the near term, in part because of their compatibility advantage. 

Nonetheless, he said that based on current tests and reviews, the new AI PCs running Windows on Qualcomm-Arm chips offer longer battery life and faster processing in many cases. Qualcomm said its chips delivered “exceptional performance” and allowed PC makers to build thinner and lighter machines.

Sarah E. Needleman contributed to this article.

Write to Yang Jie at jie.yang@wsj.com